Kim Walecka and Rosemary Zehntner will be looking to defend their championship when the 36th Annual Country Club of New Bedford Women's Invitational Fourball tees off today with first-round action featuring a 32-team field.

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By Ed Collins

southcoasttoday.com

By Ed Collins

Posted Aug. 18, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Ed Collins
Posted Aug. 18, 2014 at 12:01 AM

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Kim Walecka and Rosemary Zehntner will be looking to defend their championship when the 36th Annual Country Club of New Bedford Women's Invitational Fourball tees off today with first-round action featuring a 32-team field.

They won three of their five matches a year ago by decisive 6-and-5 margins before buckling down and playing some of their best golf in a 3-and-2 victory over Deb Hynes and Terry Garrett in the championship match.

Walecka and Zehntner, a member at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island, have a chance to do something that no team has done in 23 years — repeat as champions.

The last team to do that was Ann Weigel and Marie Buters, who won in 1989 and 1990. The only other back-to-back winners in the history of the tournament are Pat McKenna and Betty Spooner, who were victorious in 1985 and 1986.

There are a number of teams who will be taking aim at Walecka and Zehntner this week.

Pat Ansay and Hawthorne Country Club's Mary Jo Ahlander, who combined with the late Dottie Koczera to win the first fourball back in 1979, bring a lot of experience to the table. So does the team of Lorraine Duval and Fran Fernandes, a former CCNB member who now plays out of PGA Country Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Hynes and Garrett, a member at Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville, are back to make another run at the championship and another strong team that figures to be in the hunt is the Allendale Country Club pairing of Rosemary LeBlanc and Vivian Picinisco.

JoAnn Squillante and Reservation Golf Club's Denise Belanger could make some noise and you can never count out three veteran teams that are back for another go round — Sue Stykowski and Montaup Golf Club's Elaine Ferreira, Sue Sylvia and Allendale's Elaine Seguer, and the Allendale pairing of Pat Harrington and Marcia Mitchell.

Sandy Tillett and Donna Doyle, who won the championship in the 20th and 25th editions of the tournament in 1998 and 2003, are also in the field as a guest-guest team.

A former CCNB member, Tillett now plays out of Reservation Golf Club and Doyle will be coming up from Ormond, Florida, where she's a member at Halifax Plantation.

Nicki Demakis, another former CCNB member who now lives in Jamul, California, is coming back to the area to play with Carla Fitzgerald. Both are members at Steele Canyon Golf Club out west and Demakis is the daughter of Mike Demakis, who teamed up with John Wordell to win the 1972 CCNB Men's Invitational Fourball.

As in any other tournament, two teams are going to get hot and put together strong runs to get to Friday's championship match. But, figuring out who those teams will be is the hard part. Whoever ends up winning will follow a familiar pattern.

"The key to winning this tournament is playing well as a team," said Tillett. "If you can pick each other up and get by a day when you struggle, you have a chance."

Patty Rosenfield and Miriam London are serving as the starters at the first and 10th holes. Leslie Howard, Cheryl Thornton and Hackett are this year's tournament assistants known as "angels."

Chris Sears outdueled Chip Houle in the championship match to win the Assawompsett Cup, a season-long match-play event that recently wrapped up at LeBaron Hills Country Club in Lakeville.

In action from last weekend, Brian Buckley won the men's club championship for the fourth time with a eight-stroke margin of victory over Jonathan Cooper, who plays at Rhode Island College.

Wareham's Glen Driscoll won the A Flight with a three-round total of 214. Lakeville's Rick Dower finished first in the B Flight with a one-shot win over Paul Griffin.

Mike Bowden cruised to an eight-shot margin of victory in the C Flight with a two-day total of 141.

Meaghan Sullivan, a senior-to-be at Holy Cross, carded a two-round total of 159 to win the ladies championship. Diane Hugo finished as the ladies net champion with a two-round total of 141.

Diane Walsh, Claire Schell, Ann Roche and Rose Murphy teamed up to shoot a 40 and win a Women's Golf Association Memorial Tournament played July 23 at Little Harbor Country Club in Wareham.

Six teams tied for second place with scores of 42. Closest to the pins were won by Nancy Rose (first hole), Ellen Helmrich (third), Lori Mello (fifth), Ann Love (11th) and Joan Forrester (17th).

Helen Simmons, Linda Mowles, Phyllis Vass and Ellen Burns combined to take first place in a Ladies Quota Tournament that featured a field of 64 players. Closest-to-the-pin honors went to Sally Billington (first hole), Rosemary Meekin (second), Michelle Smith (fifth), Ellen Gagnon (11th) and Lee Guerin (15th).

Seven pros from area clubs will be in the field for the 94th New England PGA Championship, which will be played Aug. 18-21 at two courses in New Hampshire — The Golf Club of New England and Portsmouth Country Club.

Brent Amaral, from the Acoaxet Club in Westport, and The Bay Club at Mattapoisett's Tracy Djerf will play the first round at The Golf Club of New Bedford.

Johnson Golf Management will hold its annual Junior Golf Open at Whaling City Golf Course in New Bedford on Tuesday, Aug. 26. The $5 entry fee includes greens fee, hot dogs, chips and a drink.

Tee times will begin at 9 a.m. and the winners in each age bracket will receive prizes. Golfers ages 5-10 will play five holes. Participants ages 11-17 will play nine holes.

Interested players are asked to register in person at the pro shop. The deadline to sign up is Sunday, Aug. 24. For more information, call (508) 996-9393.

Country Club of New Bedford's Kevin Silva earned a spot in the field for the MGA Mid-Amateur Championship by shooting a 1-under-par 71 at Allendale Country Club in North Dartmouth to finish first in a qualifier played last Monday. Three other local players qualified. Poquoy Brook Golf Club's Tim Johnson finished third with a 1-over 73, Whaling City Golf Course's Bruce Barboza tied for eighth place with a 4-over 76 and CCNB's Kevin Nery tied for 12th with a 5-over 77. LeBaron Hills Country Club's Mike Arter will tee it up in a qualifier scheduled for Tuesday at Westminster Country Club. The championship will be played Sept. 15-17 at Blue Hill Country Club in Canton. ... LeBaron Hills Country Club assistant pro Ae Cahill shot a 1-over-par 71 to finish fourth at a Joey Coakley Cystic Fibrosis Pro-Am played at Woodland Golf Club in Newton. Rochester Golf Club head pro Rusty Gunnarson finished sixth with a 2-over 74 in another Coakley Pro-Am played at Charles River Country Club in Newton. Both events were held last Monday. ... CCNB's Kevin Nery and Jillian Nery combined to shoot a 13-over 84 and tie for 10th place at the MGA Father & Daughter Championship played at Wellesley Country Club. Richard Sullivan and Meaghan Sullivan, from LeBaron Hills Country Club, tied for 27th after carding a 20-over 91. The tournament was won by Hatherly Country Club's John Mulcahy and Mary Mulcahy, who teamed up to shoot a 6-over 77. ... Walter Baptiste, Bob Touchette and Steve Cabral teamed up to win a Pro-Am tournament played at Marion Golf Club. Ron Cote was closest to the pin with a tee shot that came to rest three feet, one inch from the hole.

Ed Collins covers local golf for The Standard-Times. He can be reached at (508) 979-4469 or ecollins@s-t.com. Follow him on Twitter at EdCollins@SCT.